Cleveland Homeless Blog - Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homelesshttps://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/Tue, 20 Feb 2018 19:49:00 +0000en-USSite-Server v6.0.0-13345-13345 (http://www.squarespace.com)Just the Facts: Homelessness and Poverty in our Community Chris KnestrickTue, 20 Feb 2018 19:55:52 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2018/2/20/just-the-facts-homelessness-and-poverty-in-our-community59e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:5a8c7bac419202638de4e54eJust the Facts: Homeless and Poverty in our community. This is 2017 year
data and speaks to the reality of poverty and homelessness in our
community. Looking at who is impacted by homelessness, we see that 70% of
the people in shelter identify as black and that family homelessness has
increased by 24% since 2015.Poverty:

The federal Poverty line is $11,892 for an individual and $23,836 for a family of four.

There are 14 million vacant homes in the U.S., while 3.5 million people experiencing homeless each year.

According to the US Census there were 227,740 people living in poverty in Cuyahoga County, which represent 18% of the population. (52.2% Black, 33.9% White, 8.9% Latino 2.5% Asian)

According to The Center for Community Solutions, 36.2% of the population of Cleveland lives in poverty and 18.2 are in abject poverty (household income less than 50% of the poverty rate). Furthermore, the number of Clevelanders living on income at 200% of the official poverty line is estimated at 61.3%. And Cleveland Child poverty rate is at 53.5%.

There were over 11,000 evictions in the Cleveland Housing Court and a percentage of those fall into homelessness every year.

Homelessness:

Based on Census Data and the Department of Education’s definition of homelessness, we estimate that there are around 23,000 people, around 10 percent of those living in poverty who experience homelessness every year in the county.

The Cleveland Public Schools saw 2,744 homeless students in 2017.

Singles are staying shorter periods in shelter with an average length of stay of 89 days and family length of stay has increased to 63 days.

There has been an increase to crisis levels in family homelessness to 2,154 in 2017. This is a 24% increase since 2015.

According to the Office of Homeless Services, the number of people in shelters has increased from 4,576 to 4,698 in 2017

While Cuyahoga County has lost 444 beds of shelter over the last decade, we have seen an increase in Permanent Supportive Housing to 781 units. We have seen steady decrease in the number of veterans and the number of long term homeless living in Cleveland. Yet, every shelter in the city is full to capacity every night and running an overflow and The Public Housing waiting list has surpassed 21,000 people with only 9,000 units in their inventory.

The number of people sleeping downtown and on the west side has seen another increase over the last year. Furthermore, we have seen an increase in pregnant women without shelter and every couple of weeks we find a family living in a place not fit for human habitation. At one point, we had 4 pregnant women living outside without shelter and before entering the shelter system, 515 people reported staying in a dangerous place not suitable for human habitation in 2017.

In 2017, the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimated that a single individual in Cuyahoga County must make $15/hour for 40 hours/week in order to afford a two bedroom apartment. These renters still have to work 55 hours/week to afford a one-bedroom apartment unit. And nowhere in the United States does welfare or disability assistance provide enough income for an individual to afford an apartment without subsidization.

The minimum wage in Cuyahoga County as of 2017 is $8.30/hour. That means a single mom would have to work at least two minimum wage jobs to provide for her children.

NEOCH estimates that around 55,000 people were in need of subsidized affordable housing in Greater Cleveland in 2017

There were 4,291 adults and 1389 children, who were screened at the Coordinated Intake Center in 2017.

Join us for the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless' annual meeting entitled, The Right to Speak: From Voting Booths to Shelter and Street Corners on Thursday, March 8th at 6pm.

This year's event will highlight the work of the The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and their tremendous work defending the rights of people experiencing homelessness in our community. Freda J. Levenson, the legal director of the ACLU, will receive the Social Justice Award and speak about their work defending the right to vote for homeless individuals and the right for people to ask their neighbor for help on street corners. Join us as we give this well deserved award.

Furthermore, we will look at the accomplishments of NEOCH in 2017. This year brought transition to the agency and some amazing achievements including finally getting a new provider at the women's shelter along with extra funding. We will discuss the success of this multi-year campaign. We will present our annual report to the community and talk about the new visions for the future.

Finally, we present our Advocate of the Year award to long-time friend Angelo Anderson for his years of dedication to lifting up the voices of the un-housed in our community. Angelo started the homeless newspaper in Cleveland and continues to sell The Street Chronicle. He is part of the Street Voices Program to educate the community about the myths of homelessness and works at the 2100 Men's shelter to provide care and support for the Men currently experiencing homelessness.

PLEASE RSVP BELOW:

THE RIGHT TO SPEAK: FROM VOTING BOOTHS TO SHELTERS AND STREET CORNERSNORTHEAST OHIO COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS - ANNUAL MEETINGTHURSDAY, MARCH 8TH, 2018.ST. PAUL’S COMMUNITY CHURCH(4427 FRANKLIN AVE, CLEVELAND, OHIO 44113)6PM TO 8PM ( FOOD PROVIDED)

Name *

Name

First Name
Last Name

Number *
# of people
Email Address *

Address *

Address

Address 1
Address 2
City
State/Province
Zip/Postal Code
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Phone

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Thank you!
]]>Annual MeetingHear for the Homeless: Benefit concert for NEOCHChris KnestrickThu, 18 Jan 2018 20:03:35 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2018/1/18/hear-for-the-homeless-benefit-concert-for-neoch59e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:5a60fbf3e2c483a72dc02c94Music is a bridge that can bring awareness and spur action. Emerging from
Phil Collins's installation, my heart's in my hand..., currently on view at
MOCA Cleveland, this special concert seeks to generate attention and
support to help improve the conditions for homeless people in Cleveland.
Benefitting Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH), the concert
will feature musicians and bands from here and beyond who address social
issues in their music and practice. The event will be held at Beachland
Ballroom, a venue that has long provided a stage for musicians who inspire
change.

The Museum of Contemporary Art has brought together a great lineup for this benefit concert. Get your tickets now.

Music is a bridge that can bring awareness and spur action. Emerging from Phil Collins's installation, my heart's in my hand..., currently on view at MOCA Cleveland, this special concert seeks to generate attention and support to help improve the conditions for homeless people in Cleveland. Benefitting Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH), the concert will feature musicians and bands from here and beyond who address social issues in their music and practice. The event will be held at Beachland Ballroom, a venue that has long provided a stage for musicians who inspire change.

According to NEOCH, every homeless shelter in Cleveland is full every night, with most functioning at overflow. In 2016, Cleveland's Coordinated Intake Center, which serves individuals and families who are newly homeless, screened 5,385 people. Two years ago, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District reported over 4,000 homeless students. Homelessness is a pervasive and serious issue affecting many people in our city.

]]>Hear for the Homeless: Benefit concert for NEOCHCleveland.com Editorial: Voting rights for homeless part of Supreme Court voter-purge case from OhioChris KnestrickSat, 13 Jan 2018 13:54:27 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2018/1/13/clevelandcom-editorial-voting-rights-for-homeless-part-of-supreme-court-voter-purge-case-from-ohio59e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:5a5a0f9924a6949edb7e64c2This editorial, by Director Chris Knestrick, was published on Cleveland.com on the day of the Voter Purge case at the US Supreme Court. NEOCH was one of the plaintiffs in the case.

Men of the Lakeside Avenue homeless shelter in Cleveland are assigned sleeping bunks and mats in this 2002 file photo. The rights of the homeless in Ohio to stay on the voting rolls even without a fixed address, other than, sometimes, an intersection, are an issue in the Ohio voter-culling case to be argued at the U.S. Supreme Court today.(Roadell Hickman, The Plain Dealer, File, 2002)

CLEVELAND -- Every vote counts -- and our democracy is strongest when each voice can be heard, and every eligible citizen can cast their vote. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) believes that participation in the democratic process is critical for those struggling with their housing.

I have over 10 years of experience working with the homeless community in Cleveland and directing advocacy efforts with the international and local community, and in July 2017, I became NEOCH's director. Since then, my time has been devoted to our mission to organize and empower homeless and at-risk men, women and children to break the cycle of poverty through public education, advocacy and the creation of nurturing environments. My work is about having people experiencing homelessness gain access to the seats and halls of power where decisions that impact them are being made.

Because the voting booth is one of the last places that people can turn to change policy, ensuring that our members and the people we serve can participate in the democratic process is at the core of our mission. Over the years, we have conducted voter-registration drives at homeless shelters and drop-in centers, coordinating and providing transportation to the polls, and conducted educational training sessions about how homeless men and women can cast a ballot and have it counted.

We know that members of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless were purged from the voting rolls. Therefore, speaking out against the practices challenged in the Husted lawsuit - in which NEOCH is a plaintiff - is a necessary piece of our mission and work to ensure long-term success and prevent those struggling with housing from feeling disempowered in our democratic system.

Ohio's county boards of elections used a "supplemental process," under the direction of Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, that, for example, unfairly purged hundreds of thousands of otherwise eligible voters in 2015 from the Ohio voter rolls who had not voted in an election since 2008. More than 40,000 citizens were removed in Cuyahoga County alone.

Furthermore, voters were notified by mail and those who did not affirmatively respond triggered the process, which could lead to their ultimate removal. This process falsely assumed that voters who fail to vote in multiple elections have moved, ignoring the multitude of other reasons someone might not participate in each election.

Being un-housed makes life precarious, and getting to the ballot box can be difficult when you are simply struggling to survive. Many members of NEOCH and the people we serve, for example, are frequently on the move and are unable to provide a permanent address at which they would receive such a notice. While Ohio allows such individuals the ability to use intersections and other nontraditional addresses, it makes it that much more difficult to receive notices via mail or ensure that they remain registered to vote prior to elections they wish to cast a ballot in. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for these same individuals to not participate in every single election due to difficult personal circumstances or otherwise unforeseen events. We know that homelessness is difficult, but voting should not be.

This process is particularly troubling as Ohio is historically one of the key states that factor into who wins presidential elections.

It is critical that the Supreme Court strike down Ohio's illegal process to ensure that all eligible Ohioans can vote, and that other states around the country are not able to remove voters in a similar fashion. Thus, the Ohio voter purge should not just trouble my fellow Ohioans, but all U.S. citizens.

I worry that if processes like the one used to remove otherwise eligible Ohio voters are upheld by the court, it will send a clear message to the homeless community that their votes do not matter, and their voices should not be heard.

There are already enough barriers for Ohioans - and individuals around the country - struggling with housing day to day; the constitutional right to vote should not be one of those barriers. Voting may not be a priority for each of these individuals at the time of each election, but protecting their right to vote is just as important to their survival as finding housing so that they can have a say in the laws and actions of the United States.

Chris Knestrick is director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.

]]>NEOCH's Lawsuit will be heard in the US Supreme Court on January 10th, 2018Chris KnestrickWed, 03 Jan 2018 17:58:06 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2018/1/3/neochs-lawsuit-will-be-heard-in-the-us-supreme-court-on-january-10th-201859e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:5a4d168e085229be307ba400Ohio’s Supplemental Process targets voters who fail to vote in a two-year period for eventual removal from the voter roll based on the presumption that such voters have moved. As a direct result of this process, countless voters who remain fully eligible to vote are stripped from the registration rolls and denied their fundamental right to vote.

Last year, NEOCH along with the Ohio APRI, and Ohio resident Larry Harmon sued the Ohio Secretary of State, alleging that the Supplemental Process violated federal law. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit struck down Ohio’s controversial purge of infrequent voters, finding that Ohio’s Supplemental Process violates the National Voter Registration Act’s prohibition on removing voters from the rolls by reason of a voter’s failure to vote.

We filed this lawsuit because we believe that the right to vote should not distinguish between rich and poor but the supplemental process appears to do just that: targeting the most vulnerable among us. The supplemental process send a clear message to Ohio’s homeless population that their voice should not be heard. That is not what democracy is all about.

Furthermore, The day-to-day challenges that the homeless face may already keep them from getting out to vote. And because the homeless do not reliably receive mail, the supplemental process penalizes them, making it even less likely they will be able to vote. This is neither sensible nor just; it is cruel.

As a result of the Sixth Circuit’s ruling, the federal district court entered an injunction for the November 2016 presidential election that ultimately allowed more than 7,500 Ohio voters to cast a ballot. All of these were eligible voters who would have been denied their right to vote under Ohio’s unlawful process, if the Sixth Circuit had not enjoined Ohio’s improper practices.

In February 2017, Secretary Husted requested that the Supreme Court review and overturn the Sixth Circuit’s decision. The Court agreed to hear the case in May and set oral argument for January 10th.

Here is a great video from the ACLU.

]]>Rest in Peace Buzzy. Chris KnestrickThu, 28 Dec 2017 21:42:28 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2017/12/28/rest-in-peace-buzzy59e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:5a455f5ff9619ae047a342c3The Street Vendors community lost one of our own this weekend. Melvin “Buzzy” Bryant passed away quietly in his sleep over the Christmas Holiday. He sold the Cleveland Street newspaper for around 20 years and in doing so touched many people’s lives. His smile and eagerness to greet people made him one of the most loved vendors at the West Side Market.

He was an incredible person with an amazing story. He was homeless for 10 years, spent time in prison and became a community activist and educator. His lived experience taught him deeply about politics and the need for a deeper sense of community. He brought a deep wisdom to every conversation. He was always looking out for other vendors. When our meetings got tense, Buzzy would step in and mediate disagreements and seek resolutions. His presence will be missed by so many. Buzzy, thank you for wisdom shared.

Buzzy was scheduled to sell the paper outside the West side Market on Saturday, December 30th from 10 to noon. In honor of him, Angelo Anderson will sell the paper to raise money for his family in this time of need.

Memories of Buzzy from The Vendors

“He was an amazing person, friend and co-worker and I am really going to miss him. My heart is still broke that he is gone. It is not going to be the same without him.” - Tammy Hobbs

“I am going to miss Buzzy a lot without him being at the Westside Market and NEOCH offices things will not be the same because he was part of the crew.” - Mike Owens

“Buzzy was a good friend and he would do a lot to help a person out. He was a lot of fun to be around. I have known him for a long time and I will miss him. “ - Kim “Supermutt” Goodman

“I’ll never forget Buzzy, we did a lot of things together. Nobody could have been a bigger Indians fan than he was. He went to many games a year down at the stadium. He was my friend for 30 years. I am totally going to miss him, I was to go before him. We harassed each other all the time." - Raymond Jacobs

"He had a winning smile, a great attitude and he would give you the shirt off of his back. That is one thing people didn’t realize about him. Damn, I am going to miss him." - Angelo Anderson

"I lost a dear friend on Christmas Day. His name was Melvin 'Buzzy' Bryant. August 17, 1947-December 25, 2017. Buzzy was a sweet man. He never had a bad word against me or anyone else. I went to his funeral adn his family treated me like a human being. The vendors at West Side Market came to See him. There was a dinner for Buzzy after the services. I went with his neice to the gathering. Buzzy only got flowers for his casket. Buzzy was cremated. Buzzy, you will be missed by me especially." - Delores Manley

Words from NEOCH's Staff:

"I am going to miss Buzzy. He was fun, flirty and in his mind, a Lady’s Man! He always had a smile on his face as well as a quick wit. I’m going to miss reading his wonderfully informative articles and just miss his presence.” Joyce Robinson

“He always had an amazing smile and a genuine greeting. He always enjoyed people and made everyone feel like you were his best friend. He was full of wisdom and always looked at things with a mature perspective and he tried to learn from everything. He will be truly missed.” - Denise Moore

"Buzzy one of our leaders at The Street Chronicle. He taught so many of us how to live through the hardships of life. His heart was for his people and his wisdom was shared with everyone." - Chris Knestrick

Below is Buzzy's last article which was published in the November 2017 issue of The Street Chronicle

The State of the Country

Well the election is over and we have a new president, Donald Trump. Let’s review these first 100 days and the state of the country since he has become president of these UNITED STATES. The Dow is still going up, there are a few more people working, we don’t have a new Health Plan, poor people are expecting to become poorer, he still has Russia hanging over his head, and he has hired most of the people close to him and they are now FIRED. It’s like watching The Apprentice in real life, but it’s happening at the White House.

His popularity has gone down. So it really hasn’t been a great 100 days for President Trump. I as an American citizen feel upset. Not because I didn’t vote for him, but because from my observation he is running the country like he ran his TV show, The Apprentice. He doesn’t have a clue about how to run a country. I hate to think of the future after Trump. He’s hired all these people with no experience in public service, but all were put in positions that can cripple the United States. They are learning secrets about this country that the average citizen doesn’t know. Who knows what they will use it for once they leave their positions. We already have Bannon saying he can help the president more by his dismissal because of what he has learned being by his side. Now we have a White Nationalist who has obtained secrets about the United States back on the air stirring up more trouble and the United States being torn apart at the seam.

Trump supporters are distancing themselves from the president. The country is in disarray. What is it as Americans that we can do or say? Where do we go from here? Can we ever get back to being America? Are we headed down the road of no return? America what will our future hold for our children? These are questions we must begin to answer for ourselves and our children. Something positive has to be done to get America back on the right track. I ask all Americans to stand up for what is right. Let’s get America back to where America needs to be, on top; a country where people want to come, because most of us still believe in Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

I just hope that we don’t get into war with North Korea, because more middle to low income people will die for America while upper middle class and rich people stay home and tell the returning soldiers, “Thanks for your service.” Let’s bring back the draft so those who weren’t around can witness how people dodge serving this country in the Armed Forces.

As I remember, during the campaign for President Donald Trump’s message was, “Let’s Make America Great Again.” Well how great has he made America? Stand up America. We deserve better; not with force, but with Peace. Until next time, keep the faith.

The meeting opened at approximately 1:05p.m., in the St. Peter Room at Bishop Cosgrove Center.

After opening the meeting, Chris mentioned that two members of the homeless community had been found dead in the East 23rd and Superior Avenue area.

Chris mentioned that usually, everyone in attendance would introduce themselves, however, because of the larger than normal number of attendees, personal introductions would not take place. He did, however introduce Natasha Wynn, NEOCH’s newest outreach trainee.

OVERVIEW OF CONGRESS/WORK TO DATE:

LOH – as the representative for the Homeless Congress at Cuyahoga County Council Meetings and the ADAHMS Board, asked those present to spread the word about Homeless Congress to those unable to attend meetings.

Problem: People in recovery housed with people who are currently using…

KATIE DONOVAN ONDERS – from the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Homeless Legal Assistance Program (CHLAP), talked a little about what CHLAP is and how it works.

Pro bono attorneys will visit homeless shelters to provide legal advice and assistance to homeless and at risk individuals.

All shelters have access to the list of services the pro bono attorneys can provide

Attorneys will volunteer at various levels, ranging from intake interviews, providing brief advice, or accepting cases for direct extended representation.

Ms. Donovan stated that she would take issues to attorneys to see what actions can be taken, in response to the following incidents that Congress attendees experienced:

2100 Lakeside resident was robbed and assaulted, but had to call 911 himself, staff did not

Residents at 2100 Lakeside need to be separated by age and situation; because they aren’t situations occur.

LARRY BRESSLER -- Organize Ohio, spoke about the number of reports of homeless individuals who had received poor treatment at St. Vincent Charity Hospital.

St. Vincent Hospital is the closest hospital to both 2100 and Norma Herr shelters, but homeless people are treated badly there.

Example: A resident of 2100 Lakeside who had been “examined” following an assault, was given pills and discharged from St. Vincent, only to later discover that he had broken bones that had not been dealt with.

Mr. Bressler asked that Homeless Congress members join with United Clevelanders Against Poverty Poor People’s Campaign, which meets once a month on Thursdays. The next meeting is January 11, 2018. At this meeting, the testimonies of homeless individuals who’ve been mistreated by St. Vincent will be collected.

ERIC AND HEIDI – Cleveland Federal Community Leadership Institute They are participating in a project to gather information about issues that a certain population such as the homeless, or veterans, or youth, or aging people face every day. Working on a small scale and with no budget, Eric and Heidi’s goal is find out what they can do to help the homeless with issues such as: finding employment, finding God (spirituality), financial literacy, housing obstacles due to felonies.

METANOIA: Will be open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. Please spread the word to others living on the street so that they know that Metanoia is a safe place they can go to to get out of the cold.

NEXT MEETING: Thursday, January 11, 2018, to be facilitated by Joyce Robinson and Vishal Reddy, as Chris will be in Washington, D.C.

Notes taken by Joyce Robinson

]]>Last Night Chris KnestrickThu, 07 Dec 2017 19:23:27 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2017/12/7/last-night59e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:5a2992d8e2c4839f819aa78eLast night I ate chicken wings from the garbage can on 4th street it’s a
good place to find doggie bags from the restaurants on that street. I
walked over to the alley next to May Company, got in the corner and slept.

Last night

Last night I ate chicken wings from the garbage can on 4th street it’s a good place to find doggie bags from the restaurants on that street. I walked over to the alley next to May Company, got in the corner and slept.

Last night I went to a tail gate party drunk and ate for free, panhandled some money, went to the hood, got high, then slept in the park until the police woke me up and told me to move along.

Last night I found a bus pass and rode the bus all night then went to St Augustine for breakfast.

Last night I hung out on public square. The food people were there and feed us soup with coffee. I went to the alley and slept.

Last night I panhandled on Play House square, made enough to smoke all night, and walked to breakfast at the church.

Last night I hung out in the flats, swept up the floor and put the chairs out for a concert, listened to the show, got paid, got high and slept in the bus shelter.

Last night I slept in the emergency room, because it was so cold out. I had to leave at 7:00am when shift changed.

Last night I went to the men’s shelter. It had 75 mats on the floor and a bath room with two sinks and two stalls. I won’t be back.

Last night I slept in a port-a-potty, maybe this will be my last night on the street. God willing it will be.

]]>Updated Street Card PublishedChris KnestrickMon, 27 Nov 2017 19:28:57 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2017/11/27/updated-street-card-published59e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:5a1c677e53450a9c5488f53eThe Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless announced the publication of
the Homeless Street Card for 2018. We are so thankful to University
Hospitals for sponsoring this years printing. The Homeless Street Card is
a front and back piece of paper updated every year that contains extensive
information on resources such as shelters, meal sites, job training
agencies, health clinics, chemical dependency services and drop in centers.
This valuable and convenient resource makes it easy for homeless
individuals to find the assistance they need to get out of their situationHomeless Street Card Available to Direct Homeless People to Places that Can Help

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless announced the publication of the Homeless Street Card for 2018. We are so thankful to University Hospitals for sponsoring this years printing. The Homeless Street Card is a front and back piece of paper updated every year that contains extensive information on resources such as shelters, meal sites, job training agencies, health clinics, chemical dependency services and drop in centers. This valuable and convenient resource makes it easy for homeless individuals to find the assistance they need to get out of their situation

It is easy to read, regularly updated, and can be folded up to carry around. Through the generosity of University Hospitals, we were able to print 10,000 Homeless Street Cards and have begun to distribute to individuals, shelters, hospitals, schools, police stations, and libraries

In addition, NEOCH has a Family Street Card and Veteran’s Street Card on our website to print and distribute. We hope that these one page guides will shorten a person's stay on the streets or in the shelters. We hope that they can use this resource guide to move out of homelessness quickly. With all the changes that take place with programs opening and closing it is important to have a trusted resource guide available to assist homeless people

]]>Homeless Memorial Chris KnestrickMon, 20 Nov 2017 20:42:59 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2017/11/20/homeless-memorial59e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:5a133de7652dea9417044a6c]]>Homeless Congress Notes for November 2017Chris KnestrickThu, 16 Nov 2017 13:50:00 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2017/11/16/homeless-congress-notes-for-november-201759e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:5a5a0ea6652deae5fcd869beIn the back room of the Cosgrove Center on Wednesday, November 8th (had to reschedule from the normal Thursday time), about 45-50 folks gathered around for November’s Homeless Congress meeting. We discussed several items and then jumped into the main agenda. The main agenda items were:

YWCA Update on Women’s Shelter

Campus District Inc. Efforts

YWCA Update on Women’s Shelter

From the YWCA, we had two guests: Teresa Sanders, Vice President of Social Services Programs and Operations, and Tish Gomez, Family Engagement Specialist. Teresa Sanders gave an update on the situation with YWCA and the Women’s Shelter.

YWCA Mindset: When Teresa mentioned to someone that the YWCA was interested in running the women’s shelter, someone remarked back, “Why would you run into the burning building?” Teresa said that for her, homelessness is a social justice issue and that everyone deserves to be housed. Teresa knows that one of the goals of the women’s shelter should be to ensure women secure housing so they can stay out.

Transition: Teresa felt that the transition needed to happen smoothly. This meant that if the contract was signed by December 1st, then it would be by March that the transition would be finalized. Teresa guaranteed that shelter operations would continue during that transition period. During the transition period, Teresa will be reaching out to

Changes: Teresa outlined several potential changes which included bringing more service providers into the building, increasing the number of case managers, and regularly meeting with the women in the shelter. Teresa also suggested that the YWCA’s highly transparent culture would reduce the likelihood of there being a toxic culture in the Women’s Shelter. The YWCA will create a highly transparent grievance protocol.

Staying the Same: Despite the YWCA’s religious roots, Teresa reaffirmed that no religious programming would be imposed on the women in the shelter. Also, Teresa confirmed that the women’s shelter would remain a shelter for just women.

Campus District Inc.

From Campus District Inc. (CDI), we had two guests: Bobbi Reichtell, Executive Director, and Rachel Oscar, Community Organizer.

Bobbi spoke at length about the importance vitalizing of the neighborhoods around the CSU campus, especially because many of the homeless services are centered in this community. Bobbi spoke about the Campus District’s recent ideas to beautify some of the spaces near the shelters in the neighborhood. The area around Norma Herr was of particular concern for CDI. Taking questions from the Congress, Bobbi said that the Mayor’s office is against any type of proposal that would dislocate or move the current shelters. Several members of the congress felt that cosmetic solutions for the neighborhood would not deal with some of the deeper issues in the community. Bobbi acknowledged that beautifying the space alone would not solve all the issues. She said that CDI is serious about working to also address those other issues, but that creating a community that is more visually appealing can also play an important part in vitalizing a community

]]>Homeless Congress’s October Meeting NotesChris KnestrickWed, 08 Nov 2017 21:29:00 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2017/11/8/homeless-congresss-october-meeting-notes59e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:5a134958f9619a74f03220a3In the back room of the Cosgrove Center on Thursday, October 12th, about 15-20 folks gathered around for October’s Homeless Congress meeting. We discussed several items and then jumped into the main agenda. The main agenda items were:

Prior to setting the agenda, Chris opened the space for the members of the congress to share non-agenda items.

Rude Treatment from Homeless Services Staff: One gentlemen mentioned the condescension he experiences from homeless services staff, whether it be at 2100 Men’s Shelter where he stays at or at the Welfare Office. Other members of the congress agreed.

Some members pointed out that this rudeness from staff is particularly strange because many staff in these institutions are previously homeless. However, they no longer empathize with the currently homeless, forgetting that “one missed paycheck is all it takes to be homeless”. Staff that were previously homeless instead now use their relative position of power to rudely treat people currently experiencing homelessness.

One gentlemen mentioned that it would be useful to have a monitor or auditor who ensures that homeless services staff are friendly and kind instead of patronizing.

Specialty Shelters: One gentleman mentioned that the current shelter situation is only based on one’s gender. He remarked that this causes an issue as some of the individuals at the shelter are experiencing severe mental illness. This an issue for those experiencing mental illness, as they are not provided the resources (caseworkers, therapy). This is also an issue for the other individuals in the shelter, as they feel the level of security protocol they are subject to is not suited for them. Having a separate shelter for those experiencing mental illness was suggested as a possibility.

Another member of Homeless Congress quickly suggested that Specialty Shelters used to exist in Cuyahoga County but were slowly phased out as funding has decreased. Chris mentioned that this occurred also due to HUD’s extreme focus on Permanent Supportive Housing to the detriment of developing a better shelter system. One member asked if foundations in the area, particularly Cleveland Foundation, provide funding for homeless services. Another member of Homeless Congress replied that foundations have become more focused on educational/youth initiatives than those focusing on homelessness.

Jobs: One member would like to see jobs and securing employemnt be an added focus. She felt that many individuals experiencing homelessness are still capable of working. Yet, the stigma associated with being a homeless individual limits their job opportunities. The inability to find employment through this disenfranchisement only makes it harder to no longer be homeless.

Addiction: Another member of Homeless Congress cautioned against seeing money as the only barrier to escaping homelessness. He feels that there needs to be a serious and genuine push to deal with addiction and mental illness within the homeless services provider. Even if individuals with mental illness and/or addiction secure housing or employment, they often return to the shelter system. They are often unable to maintain housing and employment without the proper emotional/mental support.to

Toxic Culture At Norma Herr: One gentleman remarked that a staff member at Norma Herr remarked that going to Norma Herr without knowing anyone already there who could protect or take care of you meant that “you were f******!”

Women’s Shelter Update: Chris explained the situation regarding the Norma Herr Women’s Shelter, currently run by Frontline Services. The YWCA was the only bidder to offer to run the shelter. However, the County’s offer fell short of their requirements to run a dignified shelter. The city’s offered budget of ~$2 million was well below what the YWCA felt was reasonable based on the standards they wanted to see in the Women’s Shelter. Ultimately, the YWCA declined the County’s current offer to run the women’s shelter, though they left the door open if the offer were to change.

The next meeting is Wednesday, November 8th at Cosgrove Center. We hope you can join us there.

Four months! It been only that long since I started as the new Director of Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. The work of defending the rights and dignity of people experiencing homelessness in our community is important as ever. The lack of affordable housing because of gentrification continues to fuel a rise in homelessness. There is no doubt that NEOCH will be an important organization to advocate when our community is impacted by federal policy and local development decisions. We have already won some important advocacy campaigns. None of this was possible without your involvement.

When the Irishtown Bend project sought to forcefully displace the two dozen homeless residents, we organized and advocated. We called for a relocation plan that respected the dignity and agency of the people that call the Riverbed home.Through our efforts, those involved in the project committed to finding the funds to make sure there is a dignified relocation plan for the residents.

However, for every success, there is more critical work to be done. Today, family homelessness is on the rise in Cuyahoga County. Appoximately 50 woman and children are sleeping on a gym floor every night. The Women’s Shelter is housing forty more women than they have beds. The Men’s Shelter is regularly operating an overflow shelter. With federal cuts and increasing demands for supportive services, we need to make sure that people have access to and knowedge of the services. This is why we put hours into research to publish a Street Card, which provides people in crisis quick and easy information to access services.

With your continued financial support we will be able to do even more. Our goal is to continue making a difference in our community and in the lives of those experiencing homelessness in Cuyahoga County. Your support can make our outreach more effective, our advocacy more courageous, and our relationships stronger.

That is why I am writing to you today. We need you to make us strong. We need you to become a member of NEOCH. In exchange for your membership you will receive: a subscription to our advocacy newsletter called The Bridge, advocacy alerts, invitations to special events, Street Card updates, a voice for homeless people, and a strong coalition and social change.

It is through your support that we continue to be a force for change in this community. Please consider donating and becoming a member. As always, your contribution will be tax deductible and your membership will further the good work being done in our community.

]]>Join us for our Housing 101 Workshop on October 20th and December 1st from 10am to 1pm Chris KnestrickFri, 13 Oct 2017 13:07:19 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2017/10/13/join-us-for-our-housing-101-workshop-on-october-20th-and-dec.html59e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:59e656f9365ffabcd1847f18]]>HOMELESS CONGRESS Notes-- SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 -- COSGROVEChris KnestrickThu, 05 Oct 2017 17:36:10 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2017/10/5/homeless-congress-notes-september-14-2017-cosgrove.html59e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:59e656f9365ffabcd1847f17After introductions of those in attendance, and giving an overview of the
Homeless Congress (what it is; how it functions; where and how to address
complaints), Christopher Knestrick asked for the approval of, or additions
to, the meeting’s Agenda.

After introductions of those in attendance, and giving an overview of the Homeless Congress (what it is; how it functions; where and how to address complaints), Christopher Knestrick asked for the approval of, or additions to, the meeting’s Agenda.

INTOXICATED WOMEN AT NORMA HERR - A resident of the Norma Herr Women’s Shelter voiced a concern regarding intoxicated women being allowed to stay in the shelter. She stated that intoxicated women were not allowed in a women’s shelter she’d been in Columbus. Mike Moguel, from 2100 Lakeside Homeless Men’s Shelter, explained that in Cleveland, “…we’d rather try to help people, than turn them away.”

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL SUBMITTED - Loh stated that an organization, (whose name Loh did not mention), had submitted an RFP (Request for Proposal) to take over the operation of Norma Herr Women’s Shelter. She was pleased that neither the Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry (LMM), nor Frontline Services had submitted an RFP, and felt that the organization that submitted the proposal would be able to turn Norma Herr around and turn it into a functional shelter. When residents asked why representatives from that organization were not at the Homeless Congress, Chris mentioned that they (YWCA) wanted to talk with the Norma Herr residents and we are trying to find a time to do that.

SECURITY - A few present, and some former, residents remarked that staff and security do relatively little regarding violent situations that occur at Norma Herr. Staff doesn’t police violent behavior, security tends to turn a blind eye when incidents occur. One resident stated that the off-duty police officers who work as security for shelter “…need to work, and not just collect paychecks!” If on-duty Cleveland Police officers are called, the officers ask staff how they want the situation(s) to be handled.

LACK OF PROGRAMMING - Residents also believe that the lack of structure and the lack of programming available for the women contribute greatly to the number of fights that occur. As one resident declared, “The women fight because there is nothing else to do at the shelter!”

ADAMHS BOARD/SHELTER FOR PEOPLE WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES – Chris invited input from the Congress regarding the next step(s) to take regarding the letter sent to the ADAMHS Board, June 30, 2017, about the need for a shelter for women with mental health issues. It was suggested that because Valeria Harper recently replaced William Denihan as Chief Executive Officer, and is getting up to speed with her new position, maybe another letter should be sent for her to review. Another suggestion was for members of the Homeless Congress to make phone calls to City and County Council members. Loh stated that she would attend the next ADAMHS Board meeting -September 27, 2017 at 4:30p.m., in order to encourage the board to review the letter.

CRISIS INTERVENTION CALLS - Quality Assurance Committee looked in to the number of Crisis Intervention calls made by the Men’s and Women’s Homeless Shelters:

Mike Moguel, of 2100 Lakeside, said the men’s shelter had a lot of EMS calls due to residents suffering from seizures and drug overdoses. 2100 has partnered with Care Alliance, and has a nurse who comes to the shelter three times a week for the residents. Looking into spending money in order to have an additional nurse onsite at the men’s shelter. A Nurse Practitioner from Care Alliance is needed to see to the needs of the residents by conducting healthy diet programs, budgeting for food and nutrition issues addressed.

CHRIS suggested Inviting shelter providers –Frontline, Ruth Gillett to talk to Norma Herr residents regarding health concerns that are not taken into consideration at the shelter.

A North Point resident stated that unlike the shelters at 2100 and Norma Herr, North Point is Transitional Housing. He said that North Point is very much like Job Corps, with the population’s average age being 24 years and older. He also said that there has been an alleged sexual assault at North point, and many more calls to EMS that the staff has not been aware of.

Questions were raised about why a person has to stay in a homeless shelter for such a long period of time before getting help. It was explained that the length of the stay is necessary in order to declare a person chronically homeless and thereby get the assistance they are entitled to. A person is considered chronically homeless if they have experienced four episodes of homelessness in a three-year period, or one episode of one year.

TRUTH COMMISSION ON POVERTY – Chris reminded the Congress that the Cleveland Truth Commission on Poverty will take place Saturday, October 14, 2017 at Franklin Circle Church, from 10a.m.-4p.m., and encouraged attendees to provide written and in-person testimonies. Loh and Rosie Palfy said that they planned to attend.

DELORES GRAY – Dolores Gray, a community activist, business owner of Women on the Move –an organization which helps women and families find employment, and Zumba instructor, spoke briefly about the importance of voting and the upcoming mayoral primary. She assisted Homeless Congress attendees, who were not registered to vote, with completing voter registration forms.

Attendees were reminded that the next Homeless Congress meeting will take place Thursday October 12, 2017at 1 p.m. at Cosgrove in the St. Peter’s Room.

Homelessness is not just a solitary struggle. The reality is 41% of homeless are comprised of families, a large majority of which are headed by single-mothers. Mothers and children are the fastest growing homeless demographic. In Cleveland, this crisis is growing, and it’s growing fast. We sought to explore the impact it’s having on the already precarious shelter system.

For a family, the path to access emergency housing in Cleveland is facilitated through Cuyahoga County’s Coordinated Intake office (run by Frontline). This one-stop-shop process is designed to direct families to need-appropriate resources within the community. Families are meant to be placed into a shelter or “diverted.” Diversion, a policy that NEOCH does not support, seeks to place families in non-shelter locations such as with friends or family. Only once they are in a shelter will they be assigned a caseworker or seen if they are eligible for the Rapid Re-housing program. Rapid Re-housing is the only county program available to move families out of the shelter system. Unfortunately, permanent supportive housing is not available to families because the federal funding for the program is reserved for single adults. This system of giving resources only once the family is placed in the shelter means the family’s future is dependent on obtaining a spot in one of the city’s shelters. Families are thus beholden to the hope that these shelters aren’t at capacity.

Hope doesn’t get them far though: family shelters in Cleveland have been at capacity for a while. Because all the family shelters are full, families are then sent to the overflow program at the City Mission if they are not diverted. Their family overflow program houses roughly 20 mothers and 30 children each night in their gym. It should be noted that the City Mission began the family overflow program in their gym last year in September 2016 because so many families were already being turned away since the other family shelters were full. The overflow program was meant to be a temporary solution to the crisis afflicting families, giving the County time to come up with alternatives. But quickly, it too has reached capacity, and there is still a lack of any concerted effort on the County to even acknowledge there is a family homelessness crisis.

What happens when even the overflow shelter is at capacity? First, countless women and children must continue fending for themselves, having been told by both the shelters and the single overflow program that they are at capacity. Second, the lives of those in the shelter are even more strained than normal since the shelters aren’t equipped to handle this quantity and those in the overflow program can’t be connected to resources until they are officially in a shelter. In the overflow, they will wait for weeks in a gym to be placed in a shelter.

We talked to several families who are currently staying in the overflow shelter to learn more. Tierra, who became homeless after issues with her abusive boyfriend, told us her's and her 3-year-old daughter's "daily routine". They leave City Mission gym before it closes at 7am, carrying all their belongings with them. Then, they get shuttled to Cosgrove Center where she must wait outside on the street with her 3-year-old child and belongings till its 8am opening time. After eating breakfast and lunch there, she leaves Cosgrove Center at its 2:30 closing time. Having nowhere to go at that point, she takes takes her child to the beach or library till 7pm when the City Mission opens again. Then, she falls asleep with countless other families on the gym floor of City Mission and attempts to sleep till the next morning.

In the absence of a stable shelter situation, families must expend a great deal of energy to simply go from place to place. Any semblance of consistency or normalcy is gone. Under this flux, struggles compound and build on one another quickly. One mother, Simera, has been at Overflow in the City Mission for a month now. She has been struggling to obtain medicine for her months-old son who’s sick. Another mother, Joanna, laments the fact that her teenage son, Draymond, is unable to attend school. He's already missed the first few critical weeks of school, who knows how many more he’ll miss this year? The crisis and trauma of homelessness makes it difficult for her to get her son back into the CMSD. What is a mom to do when they are simply trying to survive?

Also, the families who are in overflow shelter have no assigned caseworker who monitors them and keeps them up to date on the status of obtaining a permanent spot at a shelter. The lack of a transparent criteria or process for obtaining housing heightens this uncertainty; none of the families we spoke to knew what the criteria was to determine the order for families receiving shelter placements. Is it the number of children a mother has? Is it how long the family has been in the shelter? Is it the perceived likelihood the family maintains housing? None of the families knew for certain.

In one year from September 2016 to August 2017, the family overflow program at the City Mission went from providing 71 nights of shelter for 23 women and 48 children to last month providing 1016 nights of shelter for 336 women and 680 children. That’s a 1400% increase in nights of shelter provided in one year. The county NEEDS to address this situation, and they NEED to address it FAST. There is a severe, growing crisis of family homelessness. Temporary bandaids like the City Mission’s emergency family overflow have quickly become permanent bandaids.

The county has proposed Rapid Re-Housing as THE solution to the crisis of family homelessness. However, this program is facing serious difficulties. Rent is only guaranteed for 3 months, tenants are given only 30 days to find housing, and some families are even unable to pay rent after that period expires. Shelters are having difficulty finding landlords to take Rapid Re-housing, as they’re in a difficult situation, as they risk a possible eviction if there is no permanent income to pay the rent. We are now even seeing cases where families are re-entering the shelter system after attempting Rapid Re-housing.

The options for homeless families become extremely limited. Family homelessness is clearly going up. Yet, the Office of Homeless Services claimed in a letter that “the number of families accessing emergency shelter through the Coordinated Entry System has been relatively the same over the past several years.” NEOCH disagrees. We believe that we are in a crisis and other service providers agree. Something needs to be done.

The fact that a mother and her four month old child need to sleep on a gym floor for a month before they have any access to shelter services is the heartbreaking reality. Ultimately, to deny that there is a crisis is irresponsible, as the lack of further solutions to address this community crisis will continue to hurt the women and children who need support in a time of their individual crisis.

By Vishal Reddy

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

]]>Family Homelessness Crisis Needs to be AddressedNEOCH's Voter Purge Case goes to the US Supreme Court. Chris KnestrickTue, 19 Sep 2017 15:20:04 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2017/9/19/neochs-voter-purge-case-goes-to-the-us-supreme-court.html59e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:59e656f9365ffabcd1847f15In a press release on September 18th 2017, Demos and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) annouced that they will take NEOCH's purge case to the US Supreme Court.

They "filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court detailing how Ohio is violating the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by targeting registered voters who fail to vote in a two-year period for eventual removal from the registration rolls — even if they have not moved and are still fully eligible.

Targeting people for removal simply based on non-voting is a powerful tool of voter suppression. In 2015 alone, over 40,600 registrants in Ohio’s largest county, Cuyahoga, were purged from the rolls using this flawed process, and countless Ohioans have been denied their right to vote as a result of these unlawful purges. These purges are in direct violation of the National Voting Rights Act (NVRA)—that explicitly states that voters can be removed if and when they are ineligible to vote—not voting often enough does not make a person ineligible

The widespread disenfranchisement caused by Ohio’s purge process spurred NEOCH and the Ohio A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), and Ohio resident Larry Harmon to challenge the practice in federal court. A federal appeals court ruled against Ohio, finding that Ohio’s purge practice violated the NVRA’s prohibition on removing registrants from the rolls for not voting. The state appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear arguments in this case, Husted v. Ohio A. Philip Randolph Institute, on November 8th"

As we have seen time and time again, homeless voters and other marginalized voters have to fight to make their voices heard in the electoral process. We worked hard to bring these voters into the electoral process, but unfortunately, the state of Ohio’s practice of purging registrants for their failure to vote locks the doors to the ballot box for many of these voters, which we believe is in violation of federal law and jeopardizes our democratic process.

Here is a quick fact sheet about the Husted v. APRI

Ohio’s Attempt to Purge Our Democracy

Ohio election officials use a controversial procedure to target voters for removal from the registration rolls based on their failure to vote “frequently” enough – a procedure known as the “Supplemental Process.” Under this process, Ohio counties initiate a removal procedure targeted at any voter who has failed to vote in a two-year period. Ohio assumes that anyone who has not voted in a two-year period must have become ineligible to vote by reason of a change in residence. Based on that questionable assumption, Ohio targets these voters with a mailing requiring them to confirm that they are still eligible to vote. If the voter does not respond to the notice or vote in the subsequent four-year period, the voter’s name is stripped from the registration rolls.

Many voters only vote in presidential elections, every four years. That does not mean they have changed their address or lost their eligibility to vote – instead it could mean that they are less interested in mid-term elections; or that they had work or family responsibilities that made it difficult to vote in a particular election. Nonetheless, many voters in Ohio get caught up in the state’s purge practice time and time again – finding themselves under constant threat of being removed from the voter rolls. And, if a voter sits out a single presidential election cycle, they are in danger of being purged from the rolls, even if nothing about their eligibility to vote has changed.

In 2015, hundreds of thousands of Ohio voters who had last voted in 2008 were removed from the voter registration rolls, with over 40,000 purged in Cuyahoga County alone. Many of these voters—as well as voters who had been purged under Ohio’s Supplemental Process in previous years—went to the polls in November 2015 and March 2016 only to learn that their names no longer appeared on the rolls, and were denied their fundamental right to vote.

Case Background on Husted v. APRI

In 2016, after having notified Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted that Ohio’s Supplemental Process violates the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), the public policy organization Dēmos and the ACLU of Ohio brought a lawsuit on behalf of the Ohio A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH), and Mr. Harmon, a Navy veteran who voted in 2008 but was ultimately purged under the Supplemental Process even though he was living at the same address and remained fully eligible to vote.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit struck down Ohio’s controversial purge of infrequent voters from its voter rolls in September 2016, finding that Ohio’s Supplemental Process violates the NVRA’s prohibition on removing voters from the rolls by reason of a voter’s failure to vote. The federal district court then entered an injunction covering the November 2016 presidential election that ultimately allowed more than 7,500 Ohioans to cast a ballot and have it counted in that election. All of these people were eligible voters who would have been denied their right to vote under Ohio’s unlawful process, if the District Court had not invalidated Ohio’s improper practices.

Secretary of State Jon Husted filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court requesting the Court review and overturn the Sixth Circuit’s decision. In May, the Supreme Court granted the petition; it will hear arguments on November 8.

Summary of What’s at Stake

Ohio’s Supplemental Process is an illegal process that unfairly places the burden of re-registration on voters whose eligibility has not changed.

The NVRA was signed into law in 1993, with bipartisan support, to protect the right to vote, increase the number of registered voters, and ensure that states properly maintain their voter rolls.

Accurate maintenance of the voting registry is important and necessary, but that is not what Ohio’s Supplemental Process does. Ohio’s voter purge practices are based on false assumptions and result in the indiscriminate removal of far too many eligible voters.

At a time when there are approximately 50 million eligible citizens not registered to vote, it is critical that the Supreme Court strike down Ohio’s illegal process and ensure that other states across the country do not follow Ohio’s example to unlawfully remove eligible voters from the rolls and deny them their constitutional right to vote.

]]>We add our voice to the concerns raised by The City Mission about the Family Homeless CrisisChris KnestrickSat, 09 Sep 2017 14:04:41 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2017/9/9/we-add-our-voice-to-the-concerns-raised-by-the-city-mission.html59e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:59e656f9365ffabcd1847f14As of today, families have not been forced to sleep in the street.
However, there is no plan – no long term proposal being considered. There
are no extra funds being made available. There is no solution which we can
see.There is a crisis in Cleveland - a terrible lack of resources for women and children who are experiencing homelessness. All of the family shelters are full and the overfull shelter is almost to capacity.The county does not have shelter in place to give support to these families. Rapid Re-housing is available but this program alone will never be enough. Thankfully, The City Mission, who runs the overflow, still remain committed to not turning anyone away. As of today, families have not been forced to sleep in the street.

However, there is no plan – no long term proposal being considered. There are no extra funds being made available. There is no solution which we can see.

Over the last year, NEOCH has voiced concern over the current lack of capacity and planning to provide women and children with housing and care. We are attempting to increase our own capacity to do more advocacy around this unrelenting crisis through our Hope for the Homeless campaign. We are currently in the process of our own study and advocacy program into the crisis.

We have joined our voice with The City Mission, who has been leading conversations about what the community needs to do. In September, The City Mission responded to this crisis by opening their gymnasium as the family overflow shelter. Since then they have taken the lead in conversations with private individuals and religious communities to figure out how to respond to the crisis. These conversations continue.

Rich Trickle, the CEO of the City Mission, recently sent a letter to Mayor Frank Jackson and the President of the Cuyahoga County Council, Dan Brady, looking for a permanent solution to the crisis.

We add our voice to these concerns and believe that the county needs to find a long-term permanent solution to this crisis. NEOCH also believes in a Cleveland that cares for the families who live in our city.

"This letter is an attempt to bring to your attention a critical need facing our city today. Right now in a Cleveland there are multitudes of homeless women and children and as city we are woefully underprepared to care for them or even meet their most basic needs. Currently there are only 4 facilities that provide beds and shelter for families (when I use the term family I’m referring to a mom and her kids): The City Mission - 55 rooms with 166 beds, Westside Catholic Center - 35 beds, The Salvation Army - 35 rooms and Family Promise - 8-10 families. Each of these facilities is full to overflowing. The City Mission (Laura’s Home) in addition to operating at capacity, receives on a monthly average 374 calls from moms (with a total of 776 children), 379 calls from single women, and 87 calls from pregnant women all requesting shelter at Laura’s Home. Unfortunately, because the facility is always full the answer is no, please keep calling.

In addition, many women with their children report to Central Intake requesting shelter. Because Westside Catholic and the Salvation Army are full these requests are denied. The County does not have any emergency shelter in place to care for these dear families - they have no where for them to go. So, last September The City Mission volunteered to open its gym for the County to use as an emergency overflow shelter for families. Since then Central Intake sends moms and their children to our gym every night. The number has been steadily increasing - right now we are seeing, on a regular basis 20 moms and 30 kids, sleeping on mattresses on our gym floor each evening. These families are bused to our gym and begin arriving around 7 pm. In the morning, they are picked up and taken to the Bishop Cosgrove Center where they spend the day. In the evening the cycle begins again. Because these families are not yet placed in one of the three County approved shelters (Westside Catholic, Harbor Light or Family Promise) they are not given access to any services - they languish in limbo until space is available in an approved shelter. This is an appalling, unconscionable situation. Furthermore, the use of The City Mission gym was meant to be a temporary, short-term fix. I’m afraid it has become the solution.

Please do not mis-understand the intention of this letter. The City Mission is happy to provide our facility as a haven for these poor families. However, now that a year has gone by and there is no discussion, no expressed concern, and seemingly no permanent solution forthcoming, I’m alarmed.

Cleveland is a great city. It is filled with compassionate, philanthropic people. I believe, if the people of Cleveland understood our current lack of care and provision for homeless women and children, they would be appalled. This isn’t right and it certainly doesn’t represent the heart of our great town. The City Mission stands ready to do whatever we can to help, but the County must step up and provide a permanent solution."

The meeting began with the new Director of Operations at NEOCH, Chris Knestrick, re-introducing himself to some of the members that had not met him yet. Afterward, We went over the purpose of the Homeless Congress, what the Congress has done, some of the goals that have been attained or will be addressed, and why it is so important, which is, it can be a “bridge to City and State Officials” and it “allows homeless people to have a unified voice.” Everyone in attendance was asked to complete the membership form in the back of the packet. After informing everyone what the agenda was going to be for the meeting, Chris asked for an approval of the agenda. Members were informed of the dates for upcoming events which are the Cuyahoga County Council meeting, the Cuyahoga County Health and Human Services Committee meeting, and the ADAMHS Board meeting.

It was announced that Ruth Gillett will not be attending any more meetings unless there is a specific reason for her to do so because she feels the members were being rude to her. No one was purposefully rude to her but, being the bearer of bad news, as far as they were concerned, she did not like their response and seemed to take it personally. It was not any member or participants intention of disrespecting anyone at the meeting, but we would like to extend an apology to her if she felt that it was.

She was attending the meeting to keep the Homeless Congress up to date on the status of the Rapid Re-Housing Program and the Shelter Policies that would be put into place soon. She also got input from the members for both projects. She informed everyone, at the July meeting, that the Shelter Policies would be voted on by the Office of Homeless Services on July 20, 2017. It was announced that the Single Adult Housing Committee presented to the Office of Homeless Services and the policy that they recommended passed. There were only two votes against the policy, one was Loh (member) and the other a representative from NEOCH. A copy of the Shelter Policy was included in the packets that were passed out to members.

Next, the discussion was about the bidding process for a service provider for the Norma Herr women’s shelter. Loh informed members that Frontline will not be able to get any long term contracts as the service provider even if they choose to bid (which they have acknowledged more than once that they will not be bidding). RP problems and the bidding process was the next concern. Some of the concerned members asked what would happen if no one bids. One response was that the current provider’s (Frontline) contract would have to be extended. Another response for the RP problems is that there needs to be a quarterly report on the grievances that are turned in.

One member wanted to know “why there are no residents involved in this process?”

This was discussed for a while and another member stated that the bidding process should also be public information. Specifically, a member wanted to know what would or should happen if there is no provider in place by August. (We now know that there was one bid to the RFP) At that point everyone was informed that there are at least two agencies interested in applying for the contract and the date to submit a proposal has been extended to August 18, 2017.

Larry Bresler, Executive Director of Organize Ohio, then began his presentation by informing members that one of the members and dedicated participants, Norman Wolfe, passed away. He provided information on the viewing and funeral arrangements. He then informed the members that Norman, he, and Ramona Turnbull were involved in orchestration of the End Poverty Now march and participated in the New Poor People’s Campaign. He then presented about the new project called “The Truth Commission” and wanted to ask for volunteers to do personal testimonies on six focus areas (4 personal testimonies for each). The focus areas are: 1) Environmental degradation, 2) Criminalization of the poor, 3) The right to housing including utilities, 4) The right to living wage jobs, 5) Right to quality education, and 6) Right to healthcare.

The information provided by the personal testimonies would them be presented to people chosen to be commissioners. The commissioners would then meet and “come out with their initial findings.” Finally, the Mayoral candidates would be asked to respond to the findings. There will also be music and poetry readings “presented while the commissioners are deliberating.” NEOCH will follow up with the members to make sure anyone who is willing to do a personal testimony be accommodated.

Next, Ms. Eleace Sawyer introduced herself as the new President and CEO of Care Alliance and she wanted to discuss the changes or added services that will be put in place soon. These positive changes do affect the members of the Congress and homeless population. Care Alliance provides services at the women’s shelter twice a week. She asked for feedback about the services being provided and need to be provided. One member informed her that Dave’s Pharmacy will be moving and there is no pharmacy close enough to walk to for current residents at the women’s shelter to get prescriptions filled. Ms. Sawyer talked about the Federal Pharmacy Program which may be able to assist to address this problem. She also stated that she will be addressing this concern. She informed members that nutrition and podiatry services are also being put in place to address the needs of the homeless population.

She talked about having someone who is homeless or formerly homeless on their Board. In addition, she would also like a representative from her staff to attend the Homeless Congress meetings. Care Alliance also applied for transportation and were able to secure two vehicles. One member commented on the fact that in Alabama it is considered a crime to be homeless and there is no healthcare. Members informed Ms. Sawyer about how glad they are that Care Alliance is looking into addressing the food problems and will be in touch with the Food Bank to see what type of relationship can be established to better address the lack of nutrition in the food being served to the residents at the shelters. One resident suggested a town meeting. She discussed special meetings and talked about looking at data about all the 911 calls made from Norma Herr by the residents.

Next, Akshai Singh: Organizer, Cleveland for Public Transit, took the floor to discuss issues like fare cost, reliability, safety, and racial profiling by the RTA Police. He also discussed service cuts and fare hikes. The next fare hike is coming up soon and it will be a fifty cent increase on the current fare. The fare could go from $5.50 to $6.00 at that time. The organization he is representing is working to lower fares. He informed the members that the Cleveland public transportation is the least affordable and there is no assistance for people who rely on public transportation. He said they need to find local solutions and state side solutions. Group members meet with RTA on a quarterly basis. They will be discussing what improvements are needed so that the Mayoral candidates and the City Council can use it to improve the transportation system, make it more affordable, and reliable. The next meeting is on August 31 at 7:00 pm. One member stated that there is limited seating at the bus stops in certain areas (only 2 people can sit). Another added that there are no public bathrooms in the Rapid Stations. Mr. Singh stated that the RTA has been cutting services for the last 4 years. The last topic on this subject was about the cost of tickets for riding when you don’t have one in advance. This discussion went on for a while before the meeting was brought to a close.

The next Homeless Congress meeting is September 14th at 1:00pm.

]]>You Can Now Register On-Line in OhioChris KnestrickFri, 25 Aug 2017 14:11:21 +0000https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2017/8/25/you-can-now-register-on-line-in-ohio.html59e6491b9f8dce817446bdc6:59e656f8365ffabcd1847acd:59e656f9365ffabcd1847f12Cleveland has a competitive Mayoral primary coming up in September and then there are some important local races this November with every City Councilmember forced to campaign. This is the first election with on-line registration. It is too late to register for the primary, but there is over one month to register for the November election.

According to the Ohio Organizing Collaborative staff, "For the first time, Ohioans are able to register to vote and update their registration through the Secretary of State’s website. So whether you’ve sat the last few elections out, moved since you last registered, or never voted before, you can get registered or update your registration today. The last few months have been… kinda scary. I don’t know what the future holds for Ohio and our country, but I do know that there are important elections coming up this year and in 2018 that will have a huge impact our communities. That’s why it’s so important that we all register and vote."

It is so important for everyone to participate and to actually vote. No matter how many barriers Ohio puts in your way, people died for everyone to have the right to cast a ballot. Please do your civic duty and vote in both the primary and the General Election.